Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Post Office workers across Scotland strike over pay dispute

Post Office workers striking over a pay dispute in Aberdeen. Picture by Kenny Elrick/DCT Media.
Post Office workers striking over a pay dispute in Aberdeen. Picture by Kenny Elrick/DCT Media.

Post Office workers across Scotland are on strike today as part of a pay dispute.

Services provided by Post Office Cash Services in Scotland have “ground to a halt” due to the national industrial action.

All cash delivery and collection services have been impacted while members of the Communication Workers Union (CWU) take to the picket lines.

This included the full Aberdeen team, who gathered on Justice Mill Lane.

The union said Post Office management are insisting on a pay freeze for 2021-2022, and an “insulting” pay increase of 2.5% for 2022-2023.

‘A last resort’

Alan Robertson, the Post Office Limited area representative for supply chain, was at the picket line in Aberdeen this morning.

He said: “The pay offers have been derisory so far – a 2.5% increase and a lump sum of £500 is clearly not good enough.

“These workers take cash and valuables into post offices up as far as Wick and the islands and down as far as Forfar. They worked throughout the pandemic as post offices were the only shops open on the high streets.

“They put their own lives and their family’s lives at risk, doing a job that is already risky. It’s an outrage this has not been recognised. Key workers deserve a decent reward for working through a heavy time. Giving them nothing is an insult.”

Alan Robertson, front, with the striking union members. Picture by Kenny Elrick/DCT Media.

Mr Robertson said there had been a 100% walk-out in Aberdeen where there is a total of six union members.

“They are all behind this strike,” he added. “This is a last resort.”

Meanwhile, dozens of union members took strike action outside Royston House in Glasgow.

Working to resolve dispute

Carole Bowmaker, CWU Post Office Ltd area representative, said: “Across the country, operations have ground to a halt at Post Office Limited.

“This is a reflection of how workers feel over Post Office’s ill-conceived policy on pay.

“We thank the public, who have given us a massive amount of sympathy and solidarity, and we urge Post Office Limited to wise up and get back around the table and resolve this dispute.”

Around 3,500 union members are involved in the dispute.

There were walk outs from Crown Post Offices all over the country on Saturday, which means there are no cash collections or deliveries to post offices today.

A Post Office spokesman said: “We want to assure our customers that Post Office branches are unaffected by CWU strike action today and are open as normal.

“We’re disappointed that the CWU have made the decision to strike but remain hopeful that we can reach a pay agreement soon.”

Conversation